A THREE-year-old girl has died after being struck by a bullet allegedly fired by her five-year-old sister.
The children’s parents woke up to the sound of a gunshot and raced to their daughter’s room to find the little girl injured.
The older sister said she had been playing with the pistol – kept at home by her father who was authorised as collector, sports shooter and hunter.
She said she had been playing with the gun when it went off and hit her sister at the family’s home in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The parents drove the three-year-old to Rocha Faria Municipal Hospital where doctors said she was admitted while under cardiorespiratory arrest.
Despite frantic efforts to save her, the little girl tragically succumbed to her injuries this morning.
Local military unity confirmed the child’s death at the hospital.
The Capital Homicide Division has launched an into the horrifying incident which will include a forensic examination of the family’s home.
It is not yet clear where the weapon was stored, whether it had any safety precautions or how the girl accessed the pistol.
Due to the girl’s young age she cannot be prosecuted for criminal charges.
It comes just one day after a teenager was shot in the head during a game involving a firearm elsewhere in Brazil.
A 16-year-old had allegedly been handling the gun when Daniel Antunes da Rocha , 15, was struck.
The boy was raced to hospital – but did not survive his injuries.
Police have not yet recovered the weapon used in the shooting.
Last year a after picking up his dad’s gun and playing with it.
Horror footage shows the boy grabbing the firearm from a table before pulling the trigger as his mum turned to look at him.
The couple, who were at their home in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul at the time, appeared so deep in conversation that they failed to notice their son holding the Glock 9mm pistol.
She initially seemed to have survived but after briefly standing up to examine her wounds she is quickly seen falling to the ground.
In a state of shock the youngster is captured running to his mum’s aid as his dad grabs the lethal weapon from the floor.
